


Build it up

by BitterChocolateStars



Series: Build it up, burn it down. [2]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Death, General insanity, Gore, Violence, no one important dies., tell me if i need to tag something, that could trigger people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-03-31 10:11:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3974236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterChocolateStars/pseuds/BitterChocolateStars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're just trying to live normal lives as best as they can manage. All it takes is a psychopath and a shady government organization to tear it all down. Maybe, just maybe, they can salvage something from the rubble that resembles normal.</p>
<p>Part One/ Act Two: Now we begin the darkening of our tale. A new player enters the scene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Player Enters

**Author's Note:**

> Year: 2546  
> Age's:  
> Sarge: 26, Butch: 27  
> Grif:18, Simmons: 17  
> Church: 17, Tucker: 16  
> Caboose: 14, Donut: 16  
> O'Malley: 17

 Grif felt lost in life sometimes. Being a runaway. Losing track of his sister. Being so far away from his home sector . Sometimes he felt like he wanted to go back. At least until he remembers the shouting, the names, the bruises.  The loneliness.  They wouldn't want him back.  He  wouldn't want him back. He wondered if his mom missed him. If she thought about him wandering around a foreign place, lost and confused. 

"You ever wonder why we're here?" Simmons had asked him once. After he'd had a pretty bad nightmare. His scream waking Grif from a pretty cool dream about a giant bag of Oreos and pool full of soda .

"Not at all." He'd replied. Snappish from being woken up so late. His answer wasn't quite true. He wondered all the time.

Right now they were sitting behind a bakery waiting for Sarge to come out.  Just him and Simmons, Donut had  backed out of coming with the excuse that he needed to practice his ballet.

Sarge  was taking longer than usual to finish up his shift. They would have been worried, they were in a bad part of town and it was nearly ten, but both were confident that the twenty something could defend himself should the situation call  for it. Flowers was probably holding him up again.

Grif had begun to doze when the back door they sat across from burst open, startling him awake. Sarge striding out with a package under one arm and a glare on his face.

"Let's go." He ordered not bothering to wait before heading in the direction of home. He seemed tense and angrier than usual. 

Grif and Simmons shared a look before scrambling after him. They followed along silently until they were nearly home. Sarge spoke up for the first time since his order.

"Simmons, Grif, there's going to be a new addition to our squadron." He informed the teens calmly.

"I wish you wouldn't call it that." Grif complained. The guy talked like they were in the army or something and it bugged the shit out of him.

Sarge continued on, ignoring  Grif . "He's going to need you two to help show him around and  keep him out of trouble ." He explained.

"Shouldn't  you,  sir?" Simmons asked timidly. He still had trouble talking to adults. Even if said adults were barely out of their teens themselves. Even when they'd been living with the adult for years now. But it was getting better. Slowly, but it was getting there.

"Yes, unfortunately I have to go deal with something and won't have time. I trust you both with this job." Sarge huffed a small laugh. "Well I trust  you  anyway.  Grif  would fall asleep on the job the lazy-"

"I'm right here!" Grif hissed. Debating whether it was a good idea to toss a rock at the assholes head.

 

"As I am painfully aware soldier!" Sarge laughed. Stopping dead in his tracks he turned to face them both. He's expression suddenly grim. "I need you to help watch out for him. He's seen and been through things no one should have seen at his age. I ask you two to do this cause hopefully you two will be the  least threatening  in his eyes . " He stared them down until they nodded understanding.

When they got home they passed  Tucker and Church  in the hall . Arguing loudly with each other.

"Perfect!" Tucker exclaimed when he saw them. "Simmons who would win in a fight,  Doctor Deranged or The indestructible Sailor ?" Tucker asked causing the taller boy to pause.  Tucker had a comic book clutched in his hand.

"Uh...  Doctor Deranged ." He hesitated.  He glanced between the two  as they waited for explanation .  "He can't die, ever. Whereas the  Sailor  no matter how indestructible still has that chance to die due to  Billy's  Anti-power ray from issue 127."

See! I told you!" Tucker cheered, elbowing Church's arm. "I win!"

"Fine, I'll make dinner tonight." Church  sighed .

"Wow that was probably the nerdiest thing to come out of your mouth Simmons." Grif laughed. Simmons glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up." He hissed. Face flushing red.

"I mean I knew you were a nerd, but to have it just thrown out there. It was a surprise. And I live with you." He teased. It was just too easy to piss Simmons off.

"Its probably so startling cause your too busy stuffing your face to notice what someone's doing, even when they are right in front of your face!" The freckled boy growled.

"Oh god, they're doing that thing again." Church  sighed. "Make them stop before it gets weird like last time." He ordered Tucker. Who was starting to get invested in the fight with a dreamy look on his face.

"They're so in love why can't they see it?" He sighed, grin plastered on his face.

"Shut up Tucker!" Both  arguing teens  snapped at him. 

"Stop talking to the dirty blues and let's get a move on!" Sarge called down the hall as he unlocked the door.

"Yes sir!" Simmons replied and start ed  making his way into the apartment.

"Kissass!" Grif called. Following after him.

"I'm not dirty, asshole." He heard Church growl. Followed by Tucker giggling.

"Bow chicka bow wow." 

He shut the door behind him and still heard the sound of Church punching Tuckers arm.

Over the next few days they cleaned the house and rearranged furniture to get ready for the new addition to their little 'family'. Well  Simmons and Donut  cleaned and rearranged, all  Grif  really did was nap and complain.

Sarge gave them special instructions on what to lock away in the bathroom. "He's had a little trouble in the past it seems and I want to make sure he's safe here."

"I know the drill." Grif muttered. He did. He remembered when Simmons had first come to live with them. It hadn't been very long after  Grif  himself had been taken in.  Sarge had giving him the same list of things then that he was giving him now.

Simmons was almost completely silent. He barely talked. Barely ate. Barely slept. He was jumpy and  distrustful of adults.  He only spoke to Sarge when Sarge asked direct questions, or if he had to tell the man something important. Grif would sometimes wake up to pee and find him sitting in the bathroom staring blankly at his wrists. Untouched recently, but marred by past scars.  Grif wasn't sure what the scars were from, they didn't look like cuts, but he didn't want to find out and he wasn't going to ask. Those times when  Grif  couldn't get Simmons to respond he would have to wake Lopez to help carry him back to bed.  He never seemed to complain.  Not that anyone would understand what he said anyway. The guy didn't speak a word of English.

Lopez was gone now. Once he turned 18 he moved out of Sarge ' s  place and into his own. He still showed up once in a while to visit Sarge. Like an older brother visiting from college.  He spent most of his time at the maintenance shop  he owned with his girlfriend Sheila. A nice young woman, with a mean right  hook of you got on her bad side.

So Grif had taken over dealing Simmons episodes completely. Despite looking like a twig he was actually a pretty heavy dude. And on the nights Grif had to carry him back to bed he sometimes just collapsed on the bed next to Simmons and passed out.

Grif headed toward the bathroom to start locking things away when Sarge placed a hand on his shoulder. "What?" He asked, looking back at Sarge and Simmons.

"It's  only temporary. O'Malley is gonna stay a few weeks then Butch is gonna send him through to area six."

"Why?" Simmons asked.

"He has... Some issues with the city. It ' s  better if he doesn't stay long." 

The boys nodded understanding. Simmons stood to follow  Grif  to the bathroom when Sarge spoke again.

"I would like you two to start locking your door at night. I'll have Donut stay with you two while he's here."  He said stiffly before heading out the front door.

Grif and Simmons shared a look. 

"The fuck?"


	2. Welcome to the Reds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons and Grif were in the middle of an old argument about the amount of a bakers dozen , one Sarge was sadly overly familiar with, when their new housemate arrived.

 

Simmons and Grif were in the middle of an old argument about the amount of a bakers dozen , one Sarge was sadly overly familiar with, when their new housemate arrived. Sarge walked in the apartment, upon hearing the argument heaved a deep sigh and followed their yelling to the kitchen.

Sarge pushed open the kitchen door with his elbow and ushered a surly looking boy behind him  inside the room. Both Simmons and Grif looked up and quickly fell silent.

"Uh, hey Sarge, who's your  new friend?" Grif asked. Eyeing the shaved head and scarred face of the boy next to Sarge.

"This is O'Malley." Sarge introduced him. O'Malley continued to glare at them.

Grif glared back at him. "Just O'Malley?" Grif asked. "That's a little odd."

Simmons elbowed him in the side. "Shut up!" He hissed.

"Yes just O'Malley." The boy responded. He gave  Grif  a once over and scowled. His eyes drifted to Simmons and he scowled harder. "And you two would be?"

"I'm Simmons. This idiot is Grif." Simmons fidgeted under the boys angry stare.

Grif gave him a lazy salute. "Sup." 

Sarge cleared his throat.  "You're going to be staying in Donuts room for the duration of your stay. The  boy's here' ll show you to your room." He nodded to Grif and Simmons.

Simmons motioned the boy to follow him. "Right this way."  

The boy followed them down the hall and into Donuts room. "This is where you'll be staying." Grif said, giving a dramatic wave around the room. 

"Thank you." O'Malley dropped his bag on the floor next to the empty bed and turned back around to face them. He started staring at Simmons again. "You look familiar ." 

Simmons looked startled. "Do I?" He thought for a moment. "I don't think we've met before. Maybe you've seen me around? "

O'Malley studied his face before nodding. "Must have." With that he shut the door in their face's.

" Okay then." Simmons looked down at  Grif  with a large frown pulling at his lips . "Was that weird to you?"

Grif gave him an unamused look. "Let's go see what the Blues are doing." He suggested, pulling Simmons away. He couldn't help but feel like this whole situation  was going to end badly.

Later that night as they sat down for dinner Grif couldn't help but notice O'Malley sitting as far from Simmons as possible. In fact he seemed to avoid Simmons whenever possible.  It didn't matter what the situation was. O'Malley just glared and avoided.

Grif  was sprawled out on his bed one evening, waiting for Simmons to get done with his homework so he could shut off the light and go to sleep.  "You sure you don't know him?" He asked. It had been bugging him for days.

Simmons sighed, dropping the pen and running his hands over his face tiredly. "I already said I don't."

"Not even from... before?" Grif asked lightly. They usually avoided talking about where they came from. With Simmons it was another situation entirely. The guy would go into panic attacks sometimes if the topic was picked up. So Grif only ever brought it up when necessary. 

Simmons paused,  Grif  took it as a sign that he was thinking it over. He let  out a frustrated  noise after a few minutes. "I don't remember meeting him. I didn't get to meet a lot of people back then." He said quietly.

Grif threw his head back onto his pillow. "It's alright. I'm sure it's nothing." He reached up and flicked off the light beside his bed.

"Hey!" Simmons squawked at the sudden darkness. Grif could hear him hit his knees on the desk.

"Shush, off to bed Simmons." Grif tutted.  "We have school in the morning and I'm not going to deal  with your cranky ass before I've even had breakfast ."

Grif listened to him shuffle around the room and climb into bed. "Goodnight asshole." Simmons huffed.

He smiled to himself in the darkness.  "Goodnight Simmons."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So baby update: she was born the 27th, so adorable. omg i wanted to squish her face!


	3. And so it begins.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of a nightmare is never as scary as the tense anticipation of the beginning.

 

 

 

O'Malley seemed... Fine. At first. He was quiet and  other than his avoidance of Simmons, and Tucker's claims that he kept threatening him, they never really had problems with him. He said a few worrying things every now and then. Acted a bit angrier than usual on bad days. But it was fine.

Until he met Allison. Church's on again off again who knew what. She was from the upper side. Past the iron gates they separated the upper class with everyone else. She would never tell them why she was here, and they knew better than to ask. It was a good relationship for the Group.

It was clear from the moment the two met that they didn't like each other. They never spoke. Never acknowledged the other was there. No one could figure out why.

"He's a danger to be around." Was all she would say.

"She's psychotic." Was O'Malley's simple answer.

The others tried to ignore it. Allison refused to come over while he was around. O'Malley was only temporary, he was being sent off to one of Flowers contacts outside the city. They could deal with it. Until then Grif and Simmons kept their door locked. More than once they asked if Donut wanted to bunk with them. He refused. He didn't see anything wrong and seemed oblivious to the tension.

The day before O'Malley's scheduled leave the Reds and Blues were seated around the lobby of the nearly empty apartment building. It seemed like everyday someone fled the city as tension between The Council and its people rose.

"What do you mean it's gotten weird Donut? It's already been weird." Church sighed from the couch. Cabooses head in his lap as the younger boy napped.

"I don't know guys, he started acting real funny yesterday before I left for ballet. He wouldn't talk to me, and he locked himself in the bathroom. It sounded like he was talking to himself."

"What was he saying ? " Church asked.

"He was saying stuff... Really mean stuff. Scary stuff." Donut rubbed his elbow. "He sounded like he was... Like he was angry with us."

"I fucking told you he was saying weird shit to me!' Tucker snapped.

Church sighed. Running his hand down his face.  "Alright Tucker, I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"Why  would he be angry at us? We've been nice to him while he's been here. Even during that shit with Tex." Grif said from the floor where he was flopped across  a napping  Simmons lap in an attempt to  take one himself.

"I don't know. He said some really weird things about  getting someone before they got him. He sounded pretty excited about it." Donut said. Fidgeting with his hair.

The others shared looks. "Okay. So he took a step off creepy and just head dove into terrifying." Tucker announced. "What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing to do."  Simmons pipped up. Grif startled. He thought the other boy had fallen asleep. "Sarge and Flowers are gone for the night. We're going to have to wait to tell them until tomorrow." Simmons continued. Ignoring Grifs weight in his lap.

"So what we just hope he waits to snap until they get back?!" Church demanded. Waking Caboose.

"What?!" The youngest boy startled rolling off the couch and onto the floor with a loud thud. He looked around wide eyed and dazed from sleep. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Caboose. Everything's fine." Church said. Glaring at the others. Daring them to say anything. 

None noticed the shadow by the door. 

* * *

At midnight the screaming started. 

Grif snapped awake and bolted upright. His first thought to check Simmons in case he'd had a nightmare. He squinted over at the other bed and was relieved  to see that the other boy looked fine, if now wide awake and terrified.

"Grif?" He whispered.

"Yeah Simmons?" Grif whispered back.

"You heard that too right? "

"Yeah."

"I think it was Donut."

They sat in the dark for a few moment before Simmons silently slid out of bed and started for the door. Grif scrambled out of bed after him as quietly as possible. Catching his shirt sleeve to stop him.

"What are you doing?!" He hissed.

"What if something's wrong?"

"We should call Sarge." Grif said, refusing to let Simmons go.

"He could need help, remember what he said earlier?" Simmons tried pulling his arm away but  Grif  wasn't having it. Gripping it tighter.

"That's why I'm saying we need to call Sarge. He's just at Emily's. He can be here in twenty minutes." Grif  couldn't  believe this. He wasn't supposed to be the responsible one. That was Simmons job in this relationship.

"He might not have twenty minutes!" Simmons hissed pulling at Grifs tight grip. Finally pulling free. He slowly opened the door and slid into the hallway.

"God dammit Simmons your supposed to be the smart one!"  Grif  cursed after him. He grabbed his bat from beside the desk and followed him out.

It was quiet now. Just the sound of traffic in the distance. The lights were off in the house . Undisturbed from Simmons nightly ritual of going through the house shutting things down and locking doors and windows.  Grif had never been afraid of the dark but right now it was kind of hard not to be. His body was tense, ready to strike anything that even twitched in the shadows.

They crept to Donuts door and stood outside listening. Simmons reached for the door release and Grif grabbed his hand tightly. 

"We can still call Sarge." He whispered. Simmons shook his head. 

"We have to see if he's okay." 

Grifsighed. Not wanting to let Simmons open that door. Unleashing who knew what upon them. He felt Simmons squeeze his hand tightly, not letting go as he used his other hand to hit the door release.

The room was dark and silent inside. Simmons stepped into the room and flipped the light switch.

Everything seemed to happen at once to Grif.  The light flickered to life. Curled up on the floor was Donut.  A pool of blood forming under him.

"Donut!" Simmons dropped Grifs hand and rushed toward the boy.

Grif saw something move in the corner of his eye and yanked Simmons back. The blade of a knife narrowly missing its mark. The two boys stumbled back as O'Malley stepped into the doorway.

"Grif, Simmons. How nice of you to come and play with us." The boy grinned. A manic gleam in his eye as he advanced on them. Following them back as they stumbled into the wall. "I'm afraid Donuts not feeling too well at the moment. That's okay though we can still play!" He laughed lunging at them.

Grif shoved Simmons toward the front door, scrambling after him. Simmons slammed his hand down on the release, getting shoved outside right as the door opened when Grif  knocked into him.  Grif grabbed a hand full of Simmons and hauled him towards the Blue apartment. They began pounding on the door.

Simmons glanced behind him and gave a quiet shriek. O'Malley calmly opened the door and stepped out.  Knife in his hand and smile on his face.

"Open the fucking door!" Grif screamed. 

O'Malley was walking toward them leisurely. "What's wrong guys?" He asked as he got within a few feet of them. "Don't you want to play?" He reached out for  Grif, fingers  skimming across his arm  seconds before the door slid open and they were pulled inside.  He watch as the door slid closed in O'Malley's grinning face.

"What the fuck?!" Church demanded as Grif slammed the lock on the door.

"O'Malley's fucking lost it!"  Grif panted. He was not made for shit like this. This was not the life he should be living right now. He didn't not sign up for a fucking horror movie!  Grif slid down the door until he was sitting propped against it.

"What's happening?" Tucker asked, coming up behind Church. The boy looked shaken.

"He killed Donut. Oh my god. He was- and-and the blood. So much blood-  I'm gonna throw up!" Simmons bolted for the bathroom. The sounds of him losing his dinner echoed through the silent apartment.

"Grif?" Churches kneeled down to look the Hawaiian boy in the eyes. "What happened?"

"I think he killed Donut. There was a scream. He was covered in blood.  O'Malley  almost...  he almost...  I- I need-" he stopped. He didn't know what he needed. He was shaking, and terrified. He felt sick to his stomach, and unable to puke. "I need to call Sarge." He decided. It seemed he had to be the responsible one. Simmons was... He didn't know what, but he knew Simmons was panicking more than he was at the moment. So it was going to have to be him.

He stood and shakily walked over to the phone. Scrolling through contacts until he found Sarge's. The blue's began to barricade the door with furniture.  Arguing quietly with each other. 

"Should we call the police?" Tucker asked as he pulled a side table over in front of the door .

"Ooh yeah that's a great idea. Hey police we're a bunch of runaways, half of us wanted by estranged family and shady government people, please ignore that and come save us from this other run a way trying to kill us! also I'm pretty sure he's a government experiment! That's going to end well!" Church hissed. Shoving the couch in front of the side table. 

"Hey man, it was just a question."

"A stupid fucking question."

The phone rang twice before Sarge's disgruntled voice spoke from the other end.

"What do you want you dirty blues?" 

"Sarge." Grif  sighed . Relief coating his voice. 

"Grif? What are you doing over at the Blue's? It's past midnight,  you're too lazy to be up past midnight."

"You need to come home! you need to come back! O'Malley lost it Sarge!"

Sarge cut him off. "Slow down Grif, what the hell are you going on about?"

"He's trying to kill us! I think he killed Donut!  He -" Grif jumped  when a loud pop echoed through the building. The lights flickered and died. The phone wentsuddenly and terrifyingly silent.

"He turned off the power." He heard Simmons whisper from somewhere behind him. Grif stepped toward his voice.  The phone was useless now.

"That's okay!" Caboose's voice rang out. Making them all jump. Grif almost falling, before catching his balance.

"Jesus Christ!" Tucker swore in the darkness.

"I have a light!" Caboose continued as a soft light began to fill the room. Caboose was standing in his door with a small glowing orb in his hands.

"Caboose what are you doing up?" Church asked as he made his way over to the other boy.

"There was yelling and I got scared. " He said, tugging nervously at his dark blue footie pajamas. 

"There's nothing to worry about." Church soothed. Ushering him back into his room. He shut the door softly after bidding Caboose goodnight.  He motioned Simmons over. "Lock this door."

"What? Why?"  Tucker demanded

"To keep him safe. I want it locked so no one but us can unlock it, can you do that?"

Simmons shrugged. "I can try." He crouched down to get a better look at the door lock.  Eyes straining to see in the darkness.

Church bumped into Tucker's shoulder. "Help me find a flashlight or something, I know Butch has a kit around somewhere for this kind of situation." He walked off towards the kitchen. 

Grif came to hover over Simmons shoulder. "You think you can lock it?

"It's easy." He shrugged.  

Grif  was skeptical.  "Even with no power?"

"Well the manual lock will override the electric one." He swore quietly to himself.  "It's unsurprisingly hard to find in the dark though." 

Tucker popped up next to him a moment later. "You're in luck. Church found a bag of these." He pressed something into Grif's hand. 

Grif ran his hands over the smooth round surface of the object, startling when it began to glow in his hands.  "Is this one of Caboose's glowing orb things?"

"Yeah, weird right? Butch must have kept a few extras around for Caboose to replace the old ones when they ran out of juice. "

"Hey guy's..." Church called from the Kitchen. "Why are all the knives gone?"


	4. We all come tumbling down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't want you guys to panic, but no one is getting in or out of this building until the power resets and turns itself back on." Simmons informed them. He was curled into Grifs side where Grif was sitting against the wall near the door.

 

"So he's cleaned out the apartment  of any sort of weaponry, god knows when he got the chance to do that, so we have to make due with what we have." Church was pacing the living room floor. The room was lit with a few of the glowing orb lights. Making it feel even more like they were in a horror film.

"And that would be?" Tucker asked, he was curled up in a chair, away from the door.

"Well Grif has his bat, I managed to find a pocket knife. That leaves you two weaponless." He gestured to Simmons and Tucker.

Tucker shook his head and pulled something out of his pajama pants pocket.  "I have mine." he revealed a small butterfly knife. 

"I don't want you guys to panic, but no one is getting in or out of this building  until the power resets and turns itself back on." Simmons informed them. He was curled into Grifs side where Grif was sitting against the wall near the door. They'd moved the couch and table back so they could prepare to leave.

"How long does that take?" Grif asked.

"Sarge told me  this building takes  up to ten hours to reset."

"Fuck!" Church swore. Panic was already starting to set in. "What do we do?"

"How do we fix it?" Tucker asked.

"The main power box is in the attic. If I can get up there I think I can reset it manually." Simmons said.

"You think or you can?" Church demanded. Simmons flinched  at his tone.

"Lay off." Grif growled.

"Now isn't the time to act big Grif we need to get out of this place." Church snapped.

"Church shut the fuck up!" Tucker snapped. "If he says he thinks he can fix it he probably can. I trust him."

Church glared between him and Grif . They glared back in silence. He sighed and looked at Simmons instead. "I trust you Simmons. You think you can fix it, then we might as well try."

"It's better than waiting for the crazy man to pop up and kill us all anyway." Simmons muttered.

"So... To the attic then?" Grif asked, pulling Simmons with him to his feet. 

"To the attic." Church nodded reaching for the manual release on the door.  He peeked his head into the hall and found it empty. It was three floors up to the attic. "Everyone have something to protect themselves with?"

"Yeah." Grif tried to press  his bat into Simmons hands, only to have it pressed back into his own. "Simmons!" He hissed.

"You've got better aim." He whispered . He refused to take it.

Church slid the door open all the way.  "Alright lady's, let's get this shit show rolling, keep your guard up ." Together they slipped into the hall.

 As they crept through the hall it was eerie  how quiet it was.   It was surprisingly easy to get to the attic. As they climbed three floors they never caught sight of O'Malley. Church pushed open the door to the attic and motioned everyone inside. Closing the door after him he watched Simmons head straight for the farthest wall.

"You know what you're doing right?" He asked.

Simmons kneeled down in front of an off color  patch of wall. He paused and shrugged. "I can't make it worse. And it should be as simple as flipping the right switches." With that they watched Simmons pry the hatch off the wall and lean in to start working on the power.

"I think we should go check on Caboose." Tucker spoke up. "It's bugging me that O'Malley hasn't shown up yet."

"We just got up here." Grif pointed out in disbelief. 

"Tuckers got a point, you think O'Malley would have done something by now." Church bit his lip. "You and Simmons stay here and we'll go check out the floors below this one."   


Grif held up a hand. "Wait. You two want to split up?" He ask incredulously. "You remember O'Malley's insane  right?"

"Yeah, that’s why we need to check on Caboose. What if the guy got into his room?" Tucker asked.

"Simmons locked it. Do you not trust Simmons  door locking skills? "

"Don't drag me into this argument." Simmons  voiced echoed out from inside the wall.

Grif pinched the bridge of his nose.  "Look, I'm just saying, he could be waiting for us to split up."

"Yeah, or he could be downstairs murdering Caboose." Church pointed out. "If we find him first he won't be expecting that."  He turned and marched for the door. "Come on Tucker."

Tucker grimaced. He hurried after the other boy. Calling over his shoulder.  "Be careful Grif, if anything happens to us you're the last line of defense  for the nerd." before disappearing out the door.

Simmons was waist deep in the wall when Grif  turned back from  staring at the door. He walked over and leaned on the wall next to the maintenance hatch. He felt twitchy having Simmons practically crawl inside the  wall to get the power boxes.

"This feel like a trap to anyone else?" He grumbled to himself. Bat clutched in his hand, last line of defense or whatever. He sat in silence for what seemed like forever. He really wanted to know what time it was. He worried about Church and Tucker's attempt to sneak back down stairs.

"Hey Grif?" Simmons called quietly. Grif leaned down.

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?" He asked. Grif noticed how tense Simmons had gotten.

"No, what do you hear?"  He asked listening for anything strange.

"I think someone was yelling."

He listened harder. Nothing.  "I don't hear it." he  reassured. He straightened up  and glanced around the dark attic. A moment later there was a loud pop and Simmons yelped. "Simmons?" He jumped when a red light blinked on over head.

Simmons shimmied out of the hatch. "Did it work?" he asked looking around. He grinned for a moment before  he remembered why he had to restart the power.  Grif reached down and pulled him to his feet.

"Great let's get the others and go."

* * *

"Did you  hear that?" Tucker hissed suddenly. They were standing at the end of the hallway on second floor.  They'd cleared each room and were ready to head downstairs.

"For the fifth time, no Tucker, I didn't hear anything." Church growled. Wanting to hurry up and check on Caboose.  "Hurry up."

"No dude listen." Tucker urged. "It  sounds almost  like-" Tuckers voice chokes off behind him.

Church spun around just  in time to see O'Malley pull the knife from Tuckers abdomen.  Tucker hit  the floor with a thud.

"Tucker!?" He glared at the boy standing above his friend. "O'Malley you son of a  bitch!"

"Hmm, sorry. I don't have a mother." He laughed, lunging at Church. "Try again!"

Church  dodged out of the way.  The lights overhead flickered. It distracted him enough for O'Malley to get too close. Church never felt the blade sink into his chest.

"Looks like Simmons got the power on after all. Should have taken him out first." O'Malley laughed in his ear. "Your father's going to be very upset with me  for doing a sloppy job." 

* * *

Grif and Simmons crept d own the stairs at a snails pace.  There were no signs of Tucker or Church yet, they couldn't have possibly checked all the floors yet, could they?

What if they were the only ones left? Holy shit.  Grif gripped Simmons hand tightly. They  had to be around here somewhere. Maybe with Caboose? They needed to get out of here.

They climbed down the stairs as quietly as possible. If O'Malley was stillaround they didn't want to alert him to their presence. They only had a few steps to go before they made it to the bottom of the stairs. Only a few more steps before they were home free.

Grif reached out and grabbed the banister at the bottom of the last flight. Something metal snapped around his wrist. He jerked backwards in surprise, sending Simmons stumbling down the last few steps.

"Shit!" He hissed. Pulling at the metal cuff on his wrist.

" Wha -" Simmons landed in a heap. Bat still clutched in his hand. "Fuck!"

"How nice of you to join me!" O'Malley cheered. Stepping from the shadows.

"Simmons watch out!" Grif yelled. 

Simmons scrambled to his feet.  Backing away from the crazy boy.

"Something the matter Simmons?" He taunted. Crowding into Simmons space.

Simmons raised the bat and swung  at O'Malley's face as hard as he could. The other merely grabbed the bat  and ripped it from Simmons hand, tossing it aside. Simmons stumbled back trying to get some  more  distance.

"Oh I've been looking for ward to this Richard. I just never thought I'd see you again." O'Malley laughed. Spouting nonsense.  "It's been so long.  But I think it's time to stop playing  house ."

Simmons bolted for the bat. "I've never met you!"   


"Oh no you don't!" O'Malley lunged at him. Tackling him to the ground. Simmons yelped and shoved him away. Quickly trying to scramble  back  to his feet. "You really don't remember me?" O'Malley growled  and latched  on to Simmons ankle. Pulling him backwards. "That's a pity." He pulls  a knife and swings. Simmons kicks out his leg knocking the knife from his hand it lands  a few feet away.

"Let go!" Simmons yells, trying to yank his leg from O'Malley's iron grip. Surprisingly O'Malley complies. He lets go of Simmons leg and rolls to his feet in one smooth movement.

"I think I'm going to kill the fat one first." He decides. "I want you to suffer. Like we had to suffer." He picks up the bat while Simmons stumbles to his feet.

Simmons panics. He feels something in his head shift , like a part of himself shutting down, becoming numb.  His fist catches O'Malley in the jaw. Sending him jerking to the right. The bat dropped from his had to clatter to the floor. He clearly hadn't expected Simmons to do that. Simmons swung again. Hitting him across the face once more. He caught Simmons fist on the third strike  and smashed his other into Simmons elbow. The snap echoed through the room as Simmons screamed in pain.

"Simmons!" Grif screamed. He pulled uselessly at the handcuffs holding his arm in place.

"I'm done playing! "  O'Malley  growled. He spits out a glob of blood and looks at Simmons in disgust. "Oh you poor thing, you've lost all that power haven't you?"  He mocked.  Holding Simmons upright by his now broken arm. The boy struggling against him while trying not to pass out from the pain.

"You fucking bastard!" Grif hissed. He could see the blood drip down Simmons chin he'd bit his lip trying not to cry out again.  Grif would give literally anything to  punch  O'Malley  square in the jaw right now.

"Oh! How sweet! I can see it in your eyes  Grif. Are you mad i broke your toy? " O'Malley sang. "That's no fun!  In fact I don't want him anymore, he's not as fun as I remember. Here take him!" He laughed. Spinning Simmons around and shoving him into Grif . The collision knocking them both back into the stairs.  The motion pulled at his wrist painfully.

"Simmons?" Grif shifted the guy as best he could with one arm free until he could get a look at his face. He was dangerously pale, even for someone as pale as Simmons was naturally. His eyes were glazed over and his breathing was getting shallow. He was either going into shock or blacking out. Grif wasn't sure. Grif looked down at his arm, resting at an angle that it really shouldn't have been. There was no way he would be able to use it ever again... if they lived.

"You two were a riot to live with." The demented boy laughed. "Honestly. I loved listening to your stupid arguments." He came to stand over them.  "You love him so much, I'm almost tempted to spill his dirty little secret. I wonder if you'd still love him if you knew where he came from? " He tightened the grip on the  sharpened pole he was carrying  in  his  hand. "It's almost a shame it has to end this way, i could do this for hours ."

"You're a fucking psychopath!" Grif spat.

"Yeah." The boy  sighed. Raising the pole above his head. "But your not gonna be around long to live with that." He drove it down into the shoulder of Simmons already damaged arm, piercing through until he hit  Grifs  on the other side. Still he didn't stop. Not until the pole met the resistance of the metal stair behind Grifs body.

Grif and Simmons screamed in agony.

O'Malley laughed and laughed. He lifted his knife off the floor and grinned at Grif. "I wish things could have ended cleaner. Really I do.  But you don't know the hell I've been through, all because  your friends- "

A huge blur of blue knocked O'Malley to the ground  in a tangle of bodies. 

"Leave! My! Family! Alone!" Caboose screamed. Each word echoing a punch as he laid into O'Malley. He'd finally broken out of his room.

That was the last thing Grif saw before passing out.


	5. Maybe it's a dream.

Sarge is already shoving the door open manually when Butch shows up. "I called Lopez, he should be here in a few with a van." Sarge says. If O'Malley has lost it then they need to get him out of the city as quickly as possible.

Inside the building the power looks off save the emergency lights, blinking red in the windows.

"A power reset?" Emily mutters. It would explain why Grif's call cut off. She readies her gun as Sarge give one last grunt and the door slides open.

When they stepped inside the sight before them is heart stopping.

O'Malley was on the ground, face almost unrecognizable. Caboose was stradling him, tears streaming down his face even as he continued to lay into the boy below him.

"Caboose!" Butch called running up to the boy and pulling him away from O'Malley. He cradled him to his chest. "Caboose it's okay, i'm here now, it's okay."

"He hurt them!" Caboose sobbed. He clutched tightly at Butch's shoulders.

This is when Sarge sees the bat resting near the stairs. The bat he'd bought Grif on his birthday hoping the boy would feel more comfortable living with him if he had something to protect himself with. Sarge's eyes trail up and he sees Simmons' socked feet, the pair with the little computer designs that Grif got him for his birthday, they matched his pajama covered legs, limp on the stairs. He feels suddenly like he can't get enough air.

"Hurt who?" He can hear Butch ask Caboose behind him. He want's to say something, anything, but his focus is on the body on the stairs. He walks numbly closer. He realizes it's not one body, it's two. Pinned together by a metal bar through their shoulders. Simmons right hand is still loosely gripping it like he'd tried to pull it out, the left is laying limply and his arm rests at an angle that suggests it's broken. The arm's wrapped around Simmons chest could only belong to one person, the friendship bracelet tied around the wrist of his left hand, courtesy of Donut, is bright orange. Sarge kneels down and reaches for Simmons neck, searching for a pulse.

"Sarge?" Emily calls out to him. He hear her walk up behind him, can hear her horrified gasp when she sees the mess O'Malley's made of his boys.

"He's alive." Sarge mutters. He reaches past Simmons to Grif. The pulse is weak for them both and he know's if they don't get help soon it's going to be over for them. "They're both alive, barely." He pulls his hand back and feels one of the boys twitch. Grif's eye's crack open, they're glazed over but he focuses blearily on Sarge long enough to slur. "Hurts." Before passing back out.

"Emily, can you check my apartment?" He asks. He's afraid of what might be inside. But he doesn't see Donut or the other Blues.

Butch clears his throat. "Sarge, Caboose says the boy's went upstairs to turn the power back on. Tucker and Church aren't down here." He looks past Grif and Simmons, up the stairs. He walks Caboose over to the stairs and sits him down. "Caboose, i need you to stay right here and watch these two, can you do that?" He asks the boy. Caboose nods silently.

* * *

 

Tucker's leaning over Church when they find them on the second floor. With half a bloody shirt pressed against Church's chest, the other half is pressed against his own abdomen. He looks terrified for a second when he senses someone standing in the hallway with him. "Oh thank fuck!" He chokes when he sees who it is. Tears are dripping down his chin. "I thought... i thought we were going to die." The blood soaked shirt against his body starts to slip. Sarge rushes to his side and presses the shirt back in place. Butch shoos Tuckers hand away from the one on Church's chest and takes over holding that one.

"He just... He just lost it." Tucker tries to explain. Sarge notices the trail of blood from a few feet down the hall. Tucker had dragged himself to Church's side. "What the fuck was his problem?" Tucker demands. Or tries. His speech is slurred. It comes out as a tired sigh.

"He's lost a lot of blood Butch." Sarge looks to the man beside him. Butch looks almost terrified. Sarge's never seen the look on the mans face. He doesn't like it. Not even a little bit.

"I know!" Butch looks from Church to Tucker, before looking at Sarge himself. "We need to get them downstairs." He slides his arm just above the back of Church's knees. Picking him up like he was a young child. His other hand kept the bloody shirt pressed firmly against Church's chest.

Sarge followed his lead. Scooping Tucker up and carrying him down the stairs. Emily is kneeling beside Simmons and Grif, whispering something to Caboose. She looks up and at them and swallows.

"Donut's in his room, it looks pretty bad. He need's a hospital. They all do." She says. 

Butch shakes his head. "We can't Emily, if O'Malley was a plant then that means someone is trying to kill them." 

"Butch I understand that but what am i supposed to do? These two are stuck together, Donut looks like half his face got caught in a meat grinder, and those two," she nods to Tucker and Church. "Are going to bleed out if I don't do something. I only have so many hands!"

"¿Qué aconteció aquí?" A monotone voice speaks up from the door. They turn and find Lopez standing at the door with a small gun in his hand.

"Lopez, finally, give us a hand!" Sarge calls. Lopez pockets the gun, stepping into the building carefully. He takes in the carnage and frowns.

"¿Qué pasa?" He asks. Sarge passes Tucker to him.

"Keep pressure on the wound. Ya bring the van?" Sarge asks.

"Sí." He look's down at the boy on his arms and grimaces. Tucker looks up at him and smiles.

"You know, even if I can't understand you, I think you're pretty cool." The boy says. He's obviously delirious from the blood loss.

Lopez can feel the blood coat his fingers and smiles at the boy. "Gracias." The least he can do if the kid's about to die is be nice.

"Take him out to the van and see if ya can't find anything for his bleeding." Sarge orders. Lopez nods and carries the boy out the door. It's for situations like this that he keeps a first aid kit in the trunk.

Sarge turns and motions for Butch to follow after Lopez. He heads off to Donut's room and finds the boy on his floor in a pool of blood. He swallows the bile crawling up his throat. He picks the boy up and carries him to the van. Lopez has finished wrapping Tucker's stab wound. Butch is hovering as he finishes the up with Church. He passes Donut off to Butch carefully.

"¡Dios!" Lopez hisses. Pulling out another roll of gauze.

Sarge heads back inside to Emily and kneels down next to her. "How are we gonna get them apart without it hurtin' 'em?" He asks

"We aren't." She braces herself. "We need to pull the rod out before we move them but i'm afraid it might cause more problems. I'm not sure if it hit an artery in one of them. Removing it could have them bleeding out on the staircase." She's pretty sure Simmons tried that before passing out. She'd moved his hand off the rod to get a better look at it. She's glad he hadn't been able to.

"So what do we do?" Butch asks from the door.

"The best option is to move them together." She suggests. "So I can remove the rod back at my clinic."

"Alright." Sarge stands and moves to crouch above Grif's head. "Saddle up and grab Grif's feet." He nods to Butch. Emily tucks Simmons legs up into Grif's lap. Together they haul the boy's to the van, where Lopez helps load them in so they won't move around.

Tucker stares at them wide eyed. "Oh man." He whispers. "Fucking brutal." He's leaning against Caboose's side while the other boy fusses over him.

"Tucker don't move, your going to aggravate the wound." Emily scolds as she climbs inside the van. "Let's hurry to the clinic!" She calls to the three men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would like to remind everyone that i am awful at spanish and haven't passed the basic levels (by basic i mean i can barely say a few things) so i have to use google.  
> If there are any mistakes feel free to help me out.
> 
> Lopez translation:  
> What happened here? ¿Qué aconteció aquí? (right?)  
> What is going on? ¿Qué pasa? (pretty sure)  
> Yes (i know this one lol)  
> Thank you (and this one)


	6. When we wake, it'll be like a nightmare.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He would never admit his first thought was that he was in heaven.

He would never admit his first thought was that he was in heaven. The room was brightly lit. And the walls glowed white. Well at least it was heaven he went to after death. He always figure it'd be hell he ended up in. Simmons  might  be here. That goody two shoes. The image of a blood covered Simmons sprang  to mind. The last look he'd gotten of him before he'd died. Grif felt his throat start to constrict. His heart began to pound.

 

A shadow fell over him as a silhouette filled his vision.

"Simmons?" He called. 

"No its Sarge." The shadow answered. 

Well if Sarge were here either he did end up in hell or he wasn't dead. He wasn't sure what idea he liked least.

"Where am I?" He asked the blurry outline of Sarge.

"You're in  one of Emily's rooms." The man answered. Leaving Grif's field of view. "You've been here a week now, it's about time one of you woke up." The man sighed.

A week? Grif is the first one awake? What happened? Where is everyone? 

Where's Simmons? He tried to ask. All he can manage is "Simmons?".

"He's..." The man trails off. A minute passes. Then another.

Grif  can feel his eyes filling with tears. "Sarge?" He calls.  He hates that he sounds like a frightened child.

Sarge's  outline fills his vision again. "He's not dead you idiot." The man huffs.  "I was getting a chair. Calm down."

"Is he okay?" Grif asks.  Not caring about how relieved he sounds.

"He's just hurting badly." Sarge tells him, then quickly adds "And before ya ask, yes the others are alive too. It was touch and go for a while with Church but he's stable now... It was touch and go with all of you."  He sounded exhausted. "You and Simmons got a nasty infection in yer shoulder wounds. Emily's keeping Church under till he heals a bit more. Same with Tucker."  


"Donut?" Grif makes himself ask. 

"He's in a coma at the moment, but Emily says he should wake up."

A coma? Jesus Christ.

"Sarge?" Grif hesitates. "How bad is it?"

"Well You're going to need physical therapy for your arm. Church isn't going to be able to move for a while, the knife was close to his heart and Emily's worried he might stress the wound when he wakes. Tucker won't be able to eat solids for at least a month. And Simmons... Well his arm was shattered. He won't be able to use it."

"But we're okay right?" He finds himself asking. He knows the real answer is no. No one is okay. Everything is fucked beyond belief. He needs to ask anyway.

"Yeah. You're all okay." Sarge went silent for a moment. "O'Malley won't be bothering you boy's again." He says quietly. He only ever speaks like that if someones dead. Grif can't bring himself to feel bad for the boy.   


Days passed by, one blur to the next after that. Grif was slowly going stir crazy. It hadn't been till the fourth day that he realized Simmons was in the bed to his left. Once he realized that he began to slip out of bed to talk to the sleeping boy. He babbled about pointless things till he passed out and had to be carried back to bed. This went on for three days.

"Why won't you wake up?" Grif asked. Staring at Simmons sleep slack face. "I woke up. You should be awake too. We're never not doing things together. Its boring without you to talk to." He could feels tears start to sting his eyes. "I miss you." He admitted. Resting his head down on the boys chest. 

He froze. Something twitched. He sat back and stared hard at the freckled boy. There! His hand was twitching! Grif looked up at the boys face and saw his eyes beginning to flutter.  They blinked open and gazed ahead with a glazed look in them.

"Simmons?" Grif reached out and grabbed the boys hand. As soon as he did the other boy began to panic. Ripping his hand out of Grifs trying to  get away from him in a blind panic.  His 'escape' hindered by the brace on his arm and the IV hooked in his elbow. He began tugging at the brace and Grif panicked. Reaching to stop Simmons only made him panic further. Grif stopped, not wanting him to fall out of bed.

"Simmons!" He tried to calm the boy. "It's okay! Hey!" Simmons didn't  seem to hear him. Instead he began tugging at his IV when he couldn't get the brace off. "Simmons stop!"  The heart monitor began wailing when  Simmons finally  ripped the IV from his  arm.

"Simmons stand down!" Sarge bellowed when he rushed into the room and saw the scene. Emily right behind him, medigun gripped in her hand like a pistol.

To Grif's surprise Simmons froze in place. Wide eyed, his chest heaving, he slowly took in his surroundings. When his eyes landed on Grif and registered who he was his panic broke leaving him heaving and shaking.

"Grif?" He rasped. Looking at Grif like his life depended on it.  "I thought..." He trailed off. Not wanting to voice whatever it was he had thought. "Where are we?" He asks instead.

"We're at Emily's."  Grif explained. "We've been here for a while."

"A while?"   


"Almost two weeks."  Grif  turned his head to make sure he was correct on the days and saw Sarge and Emily had vanished. Probably wanting to give them a moment privacy before they came back to check on Simmons. He turned back and watched Simmons settle down on the bed. Mindful of his injured arm.

"Where are the others?" He asked, picking at the blanket. He glances at Grif and tugs the corner of the blanket up. An invitation.   


"Still out. It's just us awake at the moment."  Grif answered. Climbing up on the bed to lay down next to Simmons. He was practically cuddling the other boy. Simmons didn't mind in the least. Grif rolled onto his side so he could slip his good hand into Simmons'.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is... Is my arm..."

"It's okay" He quiets him.

"Is anyone... Did  anyone... we're all okay right?"

"We're all okay." Grif answered. Maybe if he said it enough it'd be true.

"O'Malley?"

"Dead." Grif doesn't hesitate.

"Oh." He sounds a little sad. Grif doesn't understand why, but that's always been a big difference between him and Simmons. Simmons cared too much, while Grif cared too little.   


* * *

"There's nothing you can do for him?"  Grif  asked later on. Much later, after Grey had come back in to check Simmons over. After Simmons had sobbed into his shoulder after being told he'd never use his arm again.  He was asking on behalf of Simmons, who'd refused to talk about it after that.   


"... No." He could hear the pause in Sarge's words.

"Sarge. Please."  He pleaded. He hated watching Simmons suffer everyday because of what O'Malley did.

"It's dangerous. I haven't had to do it since Lopez lost his legs." Sarge muttered. Leaning back in his chair defensively. 

Grif stared at him. Unable to believe what he was hearing. Lopez had artificial legs. Sarge had once mentioned he'd been the one to help patch the kid  up, but this? "Sarge you... Your the one who gave Lopez his legs?"

The man sighed. "Look Grif, I know what you're thinking. It ain't like I haven't thought it myself. But it's dangerous. Lopez's legs were already gone when I replaced them. Simmons arm would have to be removed. He's been through enough."

"But-"

"Its up to him what happens to his arm Grif." Sarge cut him off. Standing and walking toward the door, he didn't want to have this conversation, when a voice stopped him.

"Remove it." 

"Simmons?" Grif lloks over at the other boy, sitting up in bed and glaring down at his useless arm.

"Are you sure?" Sarge asked.  Turning to face the boy.

"Cut it off. It's useless to keep it. I'd rather have an arm I can  use than one that's going to hold me back! " He growled. Tears running down his cheeks.

"You can't take this back." Sarge stepped toward the bed and placed a hand on Simmons shoulder.

"I'm aware."  Simmons whispered wiping away the tears on his cheeks.

* * *

 It's only three hours after Church and Tucker are brought out of their induced coma's that they realize Caboose is missing.

"Where is he?!" Church's voice echoed down the hall. Anger oozing from him like lava.

"Calm down Leonard." Butch could be heard trying to calm him. 

"Don't Leonard me Flowers! Tell me where Caboose is right now!"

"Yeah man, spill!" Tucker called from his bed. "We want our idiot back!"

"Boys you have to understand. We had to do this to help him."

"So help me god Flowers if you don't spit it out I'm going to offer Sarge ten dollars to come punch you in the crotch!" The surly boy hissed.

Butch rung his hands together. He knew they wouldn't understand. "We sent him to a friend of mine. Her name is Kimball. She's very good with these kinds of-"

"Where?" Church cut him off.

"Sector Eight." Butch sighed defeat.

"That's a war zone." Church whispered. Unable to understand Butch's logic. "You sent him to a war zone... Why would you do that?"

"He was having trouble coping with what he did to O'Malley. He wouldn't talk to anyone. Wouldn't eat. We had to do something." Butch explained desperately.

"What the fuck Butch! " Tucker snapped. "He's family! You don't just send family away alone into danger!"

"Tucker-"

"Get out." Tucker said, his voice cold. 

"Boys please-"

"Leave!" Church yelled.

"I'm so sorry." Butch apologized before slipping out of the door.

The two boys sat in silence for a while before Tucker spoke up.

"We're going to get him back right?"

Church looked at him grimly. "Yeah. As soon as we can we're getting him back." He vowed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be a lot more focus on the blues in the next installment for those wanting more of them. Hehehe speaking of, it's gonna take a while for that to be ready considering i have the first and last chapter finished and no middle lol. So until then please enjoy my fic Being a Little Purple. Or i might write a few small filler shorts for this au until Part Two is ready. idk yet. 
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time dear readers, be safe. (you never know when a freelancer's going to pop up ;p)

**Author's Note:**

> My best friend is having her baby, so while I post this first chapter I must warn you I have no idea when I can update next, sorry. I will be updating Being A Little Purple, if I can. Gosh I'm so excited for this baby. Ttyl dear readers.


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